On Tuesday, June 4th Shanieke Pryor posted an adorablevideoof her husband, Deztin, and their 18-month-old baby boy, Kingston, sharing a “serious” conversation over the series finale of Empire. Shanieke captions the video:
Y'all , watch this baby have a full damn convo with his daddy 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/gEbtJZ6xuP
— Devin Johnson (@_11Remember_) June 5, 2019
In the video, Kingston is trying to have a full on conversation with his dad, and his dad is up for the challenge! Even though Kingston is speaking complete baby gibberish, his dad pretends he knows what his kid is saying and carries a conversation for a solid two minutes. Kingston and his dad are their opinions on a show on the finale of Empire, and this baby was serious with his opinions! He even points to the t.v. and shakes his head with confusion (#mood).
If you’re wondering why Deztin is so quick on his feet to come up with the funniest and cutest commentary to say back to Kingson, it’s because Deztin is actually an up-and-coming actor and comedian! In a facebook status of him, Deztin touches base on his talents saying:
“My answer is that I lived my purpose to the FULLEST and Inspired The Entire World With LAUGHING IN OUR BAD SITUATIONS!!! Ultimately I made the world better because of connection to GOD personally and through my gift!”
Destin says his dream is to perform a sell out show at Madison Square Garden, and if this video is any inkling of it, it’s safe to say he’s definitely on his way to turning his dream into a reality.
In just three days, the video has gone completely viral. With 47.8 million (and counting!) views on Twitter and 1.2 million views on Facebook, it is safe to save the world loves Deztin and his son.This video is set to be one of the most liked and watched tweets to ever exist. To put it into comparison, remember the infamous tweet from thatguywho wanted free Wendy’s chicken nuggets for a year? Deztin and Kingston is only 22,000 likes away from matching that guy’s likes on his tweet. WE BELIEVE IN YOU DEZTIN AND KINGSTON!
One celebrity in particular found this video to be adorable. Chris Evans (AKA THE CAPTAIN AMERICAL WHO HELPED SAVE THE UNIVERSE FROM THANOS IN AVENGERS: ENDGAME) showed his love for this video by retweeting it and saying “I could’ve watched an hour of this.” Same, Cap, same. Honestly, Chris Evans being super relatable by showing he also fangirls over cute videos like this makes us love him even more (if that is even possible).
Another huge super star, Mark Hamill (whose best known for his legendary portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars series) posted the whole video on his Instagram account (hamillhimself) and captioned it, “This baby is wise beyond his years & far more articulate than I am.” Actress Laura Dern (@lauradern) commented on Hamill’s post and said, “Could watch this all day. Actually, I might.”
Speaking of celebrities, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ellen Degenerous has Shanieke, Deztin and Kingston on her show. Ellen’s known for bringing the stars of viral videos onto her show, and I could see absolutely see Kingston stealing the spotlight during their segment, and then Ellen giving them an absurd amount of gifts (can you tell I watch Ellen way too much?). I’m calling it now: this family will be on Ellen!
It is really nice to see such a special, genuine moment between a dad and his son. With Father’s Day right around the corner, it is good to be reminded how even the smallest of things can create memories that will last a lifetime.
Despite this being possibly the cutest video to ever exist, there is also an important message behind it. Studies have shown that parents actively trying to communicate with their babies can actually have a lot of benefits for the baby. TalkWithYourBaby.org, awebsitewhose mission is to “educate parents and other caregivers about how important it is to talk often with babies and young children from birth to age 3” explains some reasons why talking to your baby will help them in the long-run. Here’s some facts according to the website:
Research has shown that lots of talking with children in the first 3 years of life builds the brain architecture that will be needed later to support reading and thinking skills.
Research has shown that children from talkative families may have heard 30 million more words directed to them by age 3 than children from less-talkative families! And the same research study showed that the more words the children had heard by age 3, the better they did on tests of cognitive development.
Learning to read greatly depends on having and hearing a big vocabulary; lots of talking by parents and other adults, especially when combined with reading, is wonderful for building vocabulary.
You are your baby’s first and best teacher in matters of building trust, dealing with emotional and physical needs, and interacting with others in positive ways.All of these skills will be important for your child’s later success in school and beyond.
So whether he realizes it or not, Deztin is actually doing so much more for Baby Kingston than just making him laugh. Deztin, Shanieke and baby Kingston, thanks so much for putting a huge smile on our faces with this video. We wish you nothing but love, and Deztin, we are all rooting for you to make it big in Hollywood.
Here’s some of the best comments from Shanieke’s video:
@fordfocus96: This stuff is so important. Building social skills at a young age can make your life so much better and easier. I had to learn this stuff embarrassingly late in my development.
@melaninmotiv8ter:Lmao I do this with my little patients at work, they have this gleam like finally somebody gets me... they be so excited to talk lol
@Su Moh7:aww That's such a cutie, having adult convo!!! Haha I like it that he is treating him as an individual with full viewpoint. Nice
@ChetPowell: Perfect! I needed this this morning.
@emilylhauser:The look(s) on the baby's face...!
@jenreadsromance: omg. I love this so much.
@ghostwriter4God: My mom did this with all the children she babysat including her grandchildren. All of them turned out very bright and articulate and loving, with plenty of self confidence and empathy.
@jackiembouvier: This is the sweetest thing I've ever seen and it made my day.
@carniewilson: I’m not sure it I will EVER love a video more than this.
@exsorz: True love
@drlearnalot: This baby will grow up to be very smart. What a great dad.
@seanbradbery: What a cool dad. I used to do this with my babies, I wish I'd recorded it now. Lots of fun and I'd bet great for their language development.
@warrenbmeyers: This is the best video on the internet
@dakota16west: FunnyAwesome Baby#BabyChat #DaddyAndBabyChat
@deettawest: This is sooooo doggone cute!!! It just made my heart smile!! I LOVE this!!
@running62: The world needs more love like this!! Absolutely beautiful!
@contessabessa: Agreed! The baby somehow manages to look at his dad at all the right moments to make it feel like a real conversation. I love how it kinda looks like the dad is about to crack up laughing too. So sweet.
@peyerate:IS THIS NOT THE CUTEST THING EVER
@andyn305:Yes, never did baby talk to my kid and she did the same with hers. Both spoke in fluid sentences, articulating words with a better command of vocabulary. This dad is doing a huge favor in more than one way with this wonderful interaction. Warmed my heart!!!!
@aliveevansgruff:This had me ROARING with laughter (and tears...)
@runkleVPnews: As a speech pathologist this just warms my heart. Way to go dad!!!
@Melindahill:This is hilarious!! His little hand gestures put me over😂😂😂😂
Dimeisha PenderThis video is so cute. I'm from North Carolina and it's all over our TV stations. Including the news. You two should think about starting him a little page. Love it. So cute😍😍😍
Debi WhitingI can't enough of this! I've watched it three times in a row. Thanks for putting a smile on my face!♥️
Gina FebbraroThis guy knows how to value children. Well done.
Lew NathanI can't stop laughing! I'm laughing while I'm typing this! Thank you so much.
Terri CarneyThis is just the best!
Tina Jones JensenShanieke I bet you didn’t know this is the cutest thing EVER and now you’re famous! Nice job dad❤️#ellen
Maria WulfAdorable. What a great daddy!
Joanne TomkoThis is the best video ever! You have a sweet little family!
Straub DrewMore fathers like this please
Nani Sepulveda-venti PenaWHAT BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES YOU ARE MAKING🙏👍💕
Paola Melgar WalkerOmg, he is the cutest baby.
@mafinated:Ohhhh my overies...yes I'm a guy, but that's besides the point..
@mamadunn1212: I can’t stop watching
@sonshine1411: When I was a foster care case worker, I always had conversations with my kids no matter their age. They're just little people trying to be understood. Lol.
@LennyHenry: He should run for President!
@WubsNet: Speech Path here-- this is EXACTLY how parents need to talk to their kids because THAT baby is having a convo :) it's priceless!!